Cinderella in India
This story comes from the Sanskrit epic poem the Mahabarata, and was written down by 300 BC or so.
Shakuntala's mother had to abandon her baby in the forest, where the birds brought her up, and then Kanva Rishi took Shakuntala into an ashram in the Himalaya mountains.
One day King Dushyanta was hunting in the forest and shot a deer. When he rode up to finish killing the deer, he saw Shakuntala crying over it, because it was her pet deer. The king fell in love with Shakuntala at first sight. He begged her forgiveness for killing the deer, and soon they were married.
Dushyanta gives the ring to Shakuntala (Nepal, ca. 1050 AD)
(Metropolitan Museum, New York)
Soon King Dushyanta had to go back to the city. He gave Shakuntala his ring, and said he would send for her soon. But while she was waiting, Shakutala was accidentally rude to a visiting magician. The magician cursed her. He said that whoever she was dreaming of would forget all about her! But then he felt sorry for her, and changed his curse so that King Dushyanta would remember her again if he saw the ring. But the magician didn't tell Shakutala anything about the curse.
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(a project)
Click here for the rest of the story
Another version of Cinderella from ancient Egypt
Another Cinderella story from ancient China
Main Indian literature page
Main India page
